The Woes of the Appraisal when Refinancing

[Chris Lounsbury]

It is extremely frustrating trying to do BRRRR deals in an area that doesn't have a ton of comps. The appraisal seems so subjective to what mood the appraiser is in when they do they appraisal. I am currently looking to refinance a property in Carbondale, PA and have begun the process with a couple of banks. The banks offered free appraisals, so I figured I would see which one provided the higher value, and go with them. It is amazing the range of appraisal values that came in. 1 came in at 90,000 but completely forgot to include the garage in the value. When questioned about it, they said I was right, but it does not change the value...how? I thought oh well, the other one will include the garage, so it should come back maybe slightly higher. Instead, it came back at 78,000, and used properties over 10 miles away for comparables. How is is this possible? I get a 12,000 difference in opinion may not seem like a lot when you are talking about more expensive properties, but when you are looking at 16% of the value of the property, that is astronomically wide ranging. Especially when I did a similar sized property 3 years ago that appraised for 120,000 just down the street. It's like they just make up a number sometimes. Has anyone found ways to combat this? Does anyone have any recommendations for banks in Scranton/Northeastern PA? I am beyond frustrated